Zach Gallows: A boy and his scarf
by ROTHY
Summary: Zach Gallows, age 17, lived a normal life in the Winterbrook district of the Kingdom. But when Zach's mother is killed by Black Dahlia, an enigmatic spirit drives him to find the Skull Heart. With the spirit possessing his scarf, he will stop at nothing to bring his mother back from the dead, even if it kills him. Contains: OC, possible romance.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: A Death in the Family

While the suburbs of Maplecrest are serene, there are other places in the Canopy Kingdom with no shortage of troubles. One of these places is where our story begins, in a broken-down apartment in the Winterbrook district. The star of our tale this evening is one Zachary Gallows, an earnest young man with a penchant for creamcicles. He lives with his mother, a sweet woman named Agatha who tends to a flower shop. Zach's father, Gideon, is in the Black Egrets working in weapons training.

When Zach was away at school one day, there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Agatha asked since she wasn't expecting anyone. There was no answer from the other side. Agatha rose from the chair she was sitting in and opened the door. A woman with white hair and wearing a black veil that concealed her face stood there pointing a large gun that was attached to her arm at her. "W-what is the meaning of this? Who are you?" Agatha questioned worriedly. The woman spoke "I am Black Dahlia, Vitale Medici's top ranked assassin." As she said this she stepped forward, causing Agatha to step backward in fear. She continued "Vitale wants to send the authorities a message: we can kill whomever we wish with no consequences, and he wanted me to kill several people in quick succession. You'll do fine for the no-named person the contract requires."

The five gunshots that followed echoed throughout the district.

"Alright, see you two tomorrow!" Zach said as he waved goodbye to his friends. He then climbed the staircase up to his apartment. "Mom, I'm home! You would not believe wh-" Zach said as he opened the door, right before he saw the gruesome scene in front of him. His mother's body was surrounded by a pool of blood; large open wounds covered her body from head to her stomach. "M-mom? Mom!" Zach knelt down to his mother's cold body. "Are you alright? MOTHER!"

For the next two days, Zach spent most of the hours of the day curled up in a ball on his bed crying. After his father left to join the Egrets, he and his mother grew very close to each other. Agatha showed Zach all the flowers in the shop and Zach told her about his most recent misadventure. While he had a bad habit of getting into trouble, Agatha loved him nonetheless.

"Zach…" A voice rang out. Zach looked up from his pillow. "Mother?" Zach said in disbelief. Indeed, it was indeed his mother's voice. "Zach, we can undo my death, you just have to listen to me. The Skull Heart can grant one wish to a woman who is pure. If we can find it, I can live again." As the voice said this, the scarf that Agatha made for Zach to wear when the weather became cold wrapped around his neck. "This scarf will provide me with a means of protecting you from the dangers that guard the Heart." "But where is the Skullgirl?" Zach received one last response this time. "I cannot say, but there might be someone you know that can tell you…"

Zach pondered for a moment who she could be referring to, then it came to him. "Of course! Kubat's the smartest guy I know, I'll just ask him to help me find the Skullgirl!" As he said this, he put on his school uniform, made some breakfast (or brunch, as it were), and dashed off to school. He ran where his friends were eating lunch and yelled, "I need your help and I'll explain why later! Meet me after school where the knitting club used to meet and we'll start our search!" He then ran off in the room's direction. His friends looked at each other, then shrugged and went back to eating.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Who are you? WHAT are you?

Zach's two friends waited in the knitting club old meeting room. The first of them was Kubat, a barracuda Dagonian who happened to be the quietest and stoic person at Winterbrook High School. The other was Milo, a stocky uneducated fellow who had a bad habit of yelling "Fire!" in crowded areas. Kubat looked at the watch on his scaly wrist, and then sighed; he and Milo had been waiting for Zach for thirty minutes after school for a reason neither of them couldn't believe.

"Tell me if I've got this right," Milo said as he fiddled with the buttons on his uniform, "Zach wants us to help him find the Skullgirl…" Kubat replied in a monotone voice, "Uh-huh." "…To wish for his mom to come back to life…" "Yep." "…Because his mom's ghost started talking to him through his scarf." Milo finished, lowering his eyelids at Kubat. "That about sums it up." Kubat said, not even bothering to look at Milo. Milo glared, "That is the stupidest-"

Just then, Zach barged into the room carrying a bag and wearing his bright red scarf, which looked silly in combination with his school uniform. He yelled, "Kubat, any word on where the Skullgirl has been spotted?" Kubat looked up for once and said, "She's been seen around New Meridian, near the Medici Tower." Zach reached into the bag and pulled out a lunch box, "Great, did everyone bring their lunch boxes?" Kubat and Milo reached down from their seats and pulled out their own lunch boxes. "Alright, we're heading to New Meridian, starting right now!"

The three of them took a trolley to the southernmost portion of the city, close to Little Innsmouth. Milo asked why they didn't just go to the tower where the Skullgirl was. Kubat explained that just because the Skullgirl had been spotted there didn't mean that was where she was all the time. He went on to explain that it was also still daytime and that she wouldn't dare perform an attack when the Egrets were doing their daily sweep of the city.

When they got off, Zach asked the nearest resident to tell them which direction was north. They were about to just hand Zach a compass when a loud growling noise was heard from around the corner. It sounded inhuman, like some sort of animal. "That's either one of two things, an animal that escaped from the zoo, or the Skullgirl!" Zach yelled running around the corner. Kubat and Milo ran after him to try to tell him that his logic was stupid (not to mention improbable), when they came across the source of the noise.

It appeared to be a girl with a large pinwheel-like set of blades on her back which was, much more disturbingly, attached to her spinal column. She wore a stitched up mask on her face that showed off her two blood red eyes. Her body was an even bigger metaphorical train wreck as her veins were distinctly visible and pulsating and there were nails jutting out of her thighs, shoulders, and the back of her head.

The girl looked up, paused, and then glared at Zach. "IT'S YOU! ZACH!" She yelled in a guttural voice. Zach was frightened, what was this… thing, and how did it know who he was? The girl then proceeded to pounce on Zach and claw at his shoulders. Zach tried to push her off, but she was too strong and was now about to stab him in the arm with one of her nails. "Stay away from my son, you demon!" It was Zach's mother, only now the voice was heard by everyone. The girl looked around then suddenly Zach's scarf smacked her across the face hard enough to push her off of him. Everyone was surprised by this turn of events; even Kubat rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Zach looked as his scarf, then smiled and went into a fighting stance. He gestured for the girl to come at him, which she fell for. Zach punched her in the gut and had the scarf slam her into the pavement. He then turned to run, but the girl grabbed both of his legs and bit his calf. He tried to shake her off, but once again her grip was too strong. The scarf had been whacking at her head and trying to pull her off, but she still wouldn't let go. Just then, Kubat joined in the fight and pulled at her legs being careful to avoid her blades.

"Hey, Milo, no need to come in and help, I'm just about to have my foot torn off!" Zach yelled at Milo, who immediately took a hint and ran in to help. Once again, nothing seemed to work against this opponent. Then, something unexpected happened: she stopped and clutched her head in pain. The trio took this opportunity to run. She continued to scream at Zach as they ran. "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

This last sentence sent a chill down Zach's spine.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: A Fiery Blast from the Past

The three of them finally stopped to catch their breaths and looked around to see where they were. They seemed to be right across the street to a place called 'MadMans Cafe'. "Okay, so, who has any idea of where we can look next?" Zach said in between gasps. Milo glared at him. Kubat suggested they ask for directions by talking to the workers. "And while we're at it, we can get a snack!" Milo said, perking up.

The trio walked in and took their seats. Kubat ordered a chocolate shake, Milo ordered three shakes, one of each flavor, and Zach ordered a small scoop of sherbert. "So… [slurp] who's [sluuuurp] paying for [sip] this, Zach?" Milo asked in between indulging in his shakes. "Oh, ehem… how about we play Rock-Paper-Scissors to see who pays?" Zach offered. "That won't be necessary, gentlemen." rang a voice that wasn't the server. Zach looked around and saw someone wearing a red hoodie who set down some money, just enough to cover their tab. "Gee, thanks-" Zach was cut off by the hooded stranger, "You, finish your ice cream." "Uh, ok." Zach finished up his dessert, then asked "Now what was it you want- gerk!" Zach never finished his sentence, as he had been grabbed by the collar by the stranger. "Just this, Flamma odio." As they said this, flames built up on his other hand and he slammed his open palm into Zach's stomach. The resulting explosion sent him flying backwards through the window and onto the pavement outside.

Zach coughed and struggled to look up at the figure that was walking towards him. "Not quite the reunion I was expecting, Zach." He said as he climbed though the broken glass and onto the sidewalk. Zach rebalanced himself, "Who are you?" "Zach, don't you recognize me?" the mystery man said as he removed his hood, revealing white hair that covered one of his eyes. Zach's own eyes widened, "Matthew." Matthew slowly shook his head, "I'm surprised you even remembered me after you beat me and Carol for some senseless reason!"

The chill returned. Even though his head was spinning, Zach could still recall the 'incident'. It was a normal spring day at Maplecrest, Matthew and his friends, Filia and Carol, had just gotten out of school and were walking home when Zach was waiting for them under a lamppost. He had been told by some delinquents back at his own school, Winterbrook High School, to prove he was one of them by, in their words, "beating up those pansy-ass kids from Maplecrest we've been seeing you hang out with." If he didn't comply, they promised to make the rest of his years in high school miserable. As they walked up to greet him, he sighed, and then punched Matthew across the face. The rest of the fight that ensued was too painful for him to remember. All he could recall was him running away from an unconscious Matthew, a bruised Carol, and a crying Filia. He cried, he wasn't proud of what he had done. After all, why would he? He'd just ruined his relationships with the only three people he knew outside of Winterbrook, and worse yet, any chances he had with his crush, Filia, were now literally crushed.

"Yeah, I remember." Zach said, solemnly. "If you hadn't done that, you might have been bothered to know that me and Carol were kidnapped and used as human guinea pigs!" Zach's eyes widened again, "So that…that _thing_ was Carol?" he said to himself. Matthew lit up his hands again, "Now I'm a wanted criminal because I'm an escaped test subject, but I don't think you would care about that now, would you?" He aimed at the ground and made a circle of fire surrounding him and Zach. "And now, I'm going to make you pay for what you've done." he said as he shot a fireball at Zach's head. "You're not laying a finger on him!" Zach's mother's voice cried out as the scarf stretched out again, this time smacking the fireball back at Matthew.

Matthew blocked the projectile with his arm. He then received a scarf to the gut. The two exchanged punches for a bit before attempting to grapple the other. "I don't think you've considered what I've had to go through since the incident, Matt." Zach said through gritted teeth. "I've had no other friends outside of my district since then," he headbutted him, "I haven't seen my father for several years," he punched him, "and now, my mother is dead." he kicked him upside the head, knocking him back several feet.

"Zach, we're coming for ya!" Milo called out; he and Kubat were carrying some buckets of water, apparently filled up from the bathroom. They tossed the water onto the flames and Matthew, then motioned to him that it was time to leave. "I never forgot you guys; I just didn't have the nerve to apologize. I am sorry, truly and sincerely sorry that I couldn't be there to protect you or Carol." He said to Matthew as he calmly ran off to catch up with Kubat and Milo.

"I'm sorry too… friend."

A/N: Yep, IXStarbornXI was kind enough to lend me use of his OC, Matthew Icarus aka Fyrebrand. I recommend that you read his fanfic to understand who he is exactly.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Do I Know You?

After the little detour at the café, Zach and his friends had finally made it into the inner parts of the city, but not quite to their destination of the Medici Tower. Zach couldn't help but admire the scenery, and really, who could blame him? The neon signs were just starting to light up, and the sunset made the sky a beautiful mix of orange and white. The buildings were taller than any of them had ever seen, and these didn't even compare to the tallest building in the Kingdom.

"Wow, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to come with you after all." Milo said, amused. "Yeah, but now we're totally lost and have no clue where the Tower is amongst all these buildings." Kubat stated in his usual tone. Zach was already on top of that and once again ran off to ask for directions. He came across a girl with black hair wearing a hat and a school uniform. She seemed to know her way around the area, so he walked over to her and tapped her shoulder. "Excuse me, miss?" She turned around, causing Zach to visibly cringe. It was Filia, although her hair wasn't blond anymore (probably dye) and her eyes were now red (contact lenses?), it was still clearly her.

"Ummm, sir?" She asked. She probably didn't recognize him; he had always changed into more informal clothes when interacting with her and her friends, in addition, it had been a few years since they'd last seen or spoke to each other. Zach stiffened up, stepped back, and bowed, yelling, "I apologize for my previous transgressions against you, Matthew, and Carol. Can you ever forgive me?" She was confused by this and said, tilting her head, "Erm… do I know you?" This response caused Zach to cringe once again; did she seriously not recognize him? Zach straightened up and took off his hat, "Filia, it's me Zach, remember? We used to hang out together after school." "Zach?" She paused for a moment, seemingly realizing that it was him, "Is it really you?" Zach let out a sigh and smiled warmly, "Yes, Filia, it's me."

She hugged him tightly, causing him to blush. "By the way Filia, since when did you dye your hair?" She suddenly let go of the hug and nervously scratched her head, "How do I explain this without freaking you out?" She took off her hat revealing what looked like a pair of fangs and eyes on top of much longer hair tendrils. The eyes opened and it started speaking, "[Yawn] Man, that was a good nap. Wait who's this? Is he harassin' you kid? 'Cause if he is, I'll rough him up!" "No, Samson, this is Zach. Zach, this is Samson, my parasite." Filia explained. Samson grumbled, while Zach was in disbelief. He pinched himself… nope not a delirious dream. "You see, I've lost my memories, and Samson here is helping me find the Skull Heart so I can wish for them back." Zach nearly leaped into the air at this last part, "THE SKULL HEART? BUT I- er, I mean, I can help you find it, if that's okay with Samson."

"Sorry, but I can tell you're lying through your teeth." Samson grinned, which was weird since he had no lips to speak of. Zach gulped; he never was any good at bluffing. "Samson, no!" Filia cried out as tendrils wrapped around Zach's arms. He was then pulled over to Samson's side where he quickly pulled his arms into his awaiting jaw. Just as Samson's teeth were coming down to bite, Filia started pulling Samson's face on both sides causing him to release his grip on Zach, who subsequently dropped to the ground. He looked at his sleeves, which were now covered in saliva and his arms felt like they had been held together by rope for several minutes.

"Some reunion," Zach muttered, "first Carol bites the back of my lower leg, then Matt punches me in the stomach which caused an explosion, and now this!" Filia spoke up, "I'm really sorry about that, Samson can get a bit… extreme sometimes." "It's no big deal, I'll manage. Besides, this wasn't the worst injury I've had today." "Well, we've got to go, but maybe we'll see each other again?" Filia said as she waved goodbye to Zach, "Oh, and Zach?" "Yes, Filia?" "I do forgive you."

Zach smiled, perhaps things were looking up.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Ah, So Filling!

Zach's stomach growled, apparently ice cream wasn't enough to sustain him after a fight with a pyromaniac and nearly getting his arms bitten off by an angry parasite. He pulled out his lunch box and sat down on a nearby bench. He started with the ham and baloney sandwich he made after he told his friends to meet up after school. He took a bite out of it and mulled over the day so far.

This was still so hard to believe, in just a few years, his old friends had become so different. Carol was now a crazed lab experiment, Matthew controlled fire, and Filia had lost her memories, had a parasite on her head, and was seeking the Skull Heart as well. He sighed and took another bite. From each of those encounters, he had gotten some sort of injury; Carol bit his lower thigh, Matt made an explosion in front of his stomach, and Samson's tendrils left marks on his arms. And yet Zach knew that there would more to come.

Taking a sip from his thermos, Zach noticed there was someone else sitting on the bench, specifically, a woman. She seemed to be a nurse of some sort wearing a medical mask and a typical uniform, only with an incredibly low skirt and a top that was apparently too small for her massive chest. She glanced at him, "Yes, can I help you?" Zach realized he was staring at her chest and promptly adjusted his vision. He spoke up, "I need directions to the Medici Tower from here." She looked quizzically at him; Zach could see her lips form a visible frown from beneath her mask, "Now why would you want to go there?" She leaned in closer, "Are you hiding something, kid?" Zach frowned, there wasn't a point in keeping a secret from her, "I'm looking for the Skull Heart so I can bring my mother back from the dead, okay?" he sighed as he finished up his sandwich.

The woman raised her eyebrow at this, "That's pretty bold statement for someone to take, but I think you forgot one detail," she said as she pointed to him, "You're not a girl." Zach glared at her, and held up his scarf, "Yes, I know that, and I know this sounds crazy, but my mother is protecting me through this scarf. Her spirit spoke to me and told me to find the Skull Heart." He paused, "You probably don't believe me, do you?" The woman looked unimpressed, "Kid, New Meridian has fish people living in it and now a psychotic cartoon cyborg is running around in the streets, so I'm pretty sure your story is true." He was about to ask what she was referring to by a cartoon cyborg when she cut him off, "Of course, you'll have to kill the Skullgirl to even get the Heart, and she's one of the toughest things in the world to even scratch." Zach shrugged, "I'll manage."

"There's just no stopping you, is there? Fine, give me some paper and a pen and I'll give you directions." Zach knew that bringing some school supplies would come in handy in the trip. He tore out a sheet of notebook paper and gave her a pencil. She handed him back a paper with detail instructions on where to get to the Tower, but oddly, the instructions said to go to the Grand Cathedral of the Divine Trinity. Zach was about to ask her if she made a mistake, but she had vanished without a trace. Just then, Kubat and Milo ran up to him. Milo said, "You just up and vanished! Where the hell were you?" Zach replied, "Oh, you know, catching up with an old friend, nearly getting my arms torn off, and getting directions to the Tower!" He showed off the piece of paper. "I'm not going to ask…" Kubat said as Zach walked off in the direction of the Tower with the other two in tow.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Time for the Side Attraction!

The Medici Tower stood before the three. "I still say we should go to the Cathedral." Kubat said, constantly checking to see if Zach was listening. "Yeah, I mean, why would the Skullgirl be here anyways? It's too out in the open." Milo piped up. Both of them were waiting for Zach to speak up, but he never did. Kubat glanced over to his right, hit his face with his palm, because, once again, Zach ran off ahead.

When Zach snuck in through the side door, he was greeted by a bouncer. It really didn't take long for Zach to end up unconscious, and when he woke up, he was tied up with rope from his shoulders to his legs. Examining his new surroundings, he seemed to be on a couch in a lobby room of some sort, though by the looks of it, one a few floors above ground level. He was starting to reconsider his assumption about the Skullgirl taking up residence here; weren't there reports of members of the Mafia being found dead recently?

While he was mulling this over, the nearby elevator opened up. Out stepped a girl with turquoise hair and wearing a skimpy orange outfit that showed off her cleavage and matching orange and black stockings with diamond patterns on them. She was carrying a weird looking hat; it was orange (She seemed to like that color), but it had a skull with stubby little horns and a pair of hands sticking out from the sides. She seemed familiar somehow, but before he could place it, she put the hat on top of her head, which caused the hands to burst out into really muscular arms and the skull to look more menacing. Then he figured it out, she was Cerebella, he'd seen posters advertising her stunts at the circus all around the city.

She walked over to the couch and began to untie the ropes. Zach breathed a sigh of relief, "Of all the people who could bust me out, I knew I'd get a pretty one." She looked up from the knot she was currently on and smiled, "Aw, thanks for the compliment, handsome," she said suddenly taking on a more determined expression, "but I'm not here to break you out, I'm here to break your legs." Zach suddenly froze, "WHAT?" "Well we can't have anyone snooping around the Tower can we? If anyone else was here, they'd just shoot you, but I'm a bit more forgiving than them." Zach remembered that the Mafia controlled just about everything in New Meridian, even the circus. "I'm trying to do you a favor, okay? If Vitale knew I was letting someone who came into the Tower just leave with only a few broken bones, well…" She trailed off, focusing on getting the knots undone.

Zach realized that there was only one thing he could do. As soon as the ropes came undone, the scarf smacked Cerebella across the face, giving Zach a beeline for the elevator. He mashed on the down button as much as he could and didn't hesitate to run inside. Unfortunately, Cerebella used her hat to push the doors open so she could climb in after him. He hit the lobby button so hard, it cracked. Cerebella grabbed Zach in between the two giant hands and started to pummel him with her fists. He suddenly caught both of her fists and shoved her off. He squeezed himself out of the giant hands and got a good distance away from her so he could attack from a distance away from the reach of her hat.

Cerebella tried to punch Zach, but misjudged the distance and was met with another scarf to the face. Zach decided to spice up the fight with some banter, "This is one stupidly long elevator ride, don't you think?" Cerebella's rebuttal was less innocuous, being a fist to his face. She then proceeded to tackle him and had her hat pin him down to ground. "Now are you going to go quietly, or am I going to have to-" she started before she was interrupted with the ding of the elevator as it finally reached the first floor.

"Bottom floor, matchsticks, broom handles, and dish washers!" Zach yelled as the scarf swatted her hat off her head, releasing him from the death grip she had on him. He wasted no time running out the front doors and onto the street. Zach suddenly felt a fist hit the back of his head and he turned around prepared to fight some more, though he stopped when he realized it was Kubat. "Stop running off like that, you're going to get killed!" Kubat said raising his voice, which was rare for him. "Yeah, I gathered that already. Now we're going to the Cathedral to find the Skullgirl, like I said before." Zach said.

Kubat hit his face with his hand again.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: _The Clergy of the Unholy_

Zach, Kubat, and Milo stared at the gate in front of the Grand Cathedral of the Divine Trinity. "You're not going to get in just by walking in." Kubat muttered. Zach ignored him and calmly pushed opened the gates, causing Kubat to add, "Forget I said anything." Walking through the front doors, the inside of the Cathedral was somewhat overblown: stained glass windows of the Divine Trinity decorated the right side of the Cathedral, a red carpet laid on the floor, and some pews in front of a giant statue of the Trinity, which in the center of everything. Milo wondered out loud, "Isn't some of the stuff in here expensive? You'd expect them to leave the doors locked to keep it safe, wouldn't you?"

"There's a good reason for that, you know." A familiar voice rang out. Zach turned in its direction and saw the nurse who gave him directions leaning up against the wall. "Oh hey, it's you again. I never did thank you for helping me, Miss... umm…" Zach realized he never caught her name during their conversation. "It's Valentine, but before you go thanking me, I still have a job to do." She said as she pulled a hacksaw out and pointed at Zach. She called out in a singsong tone of voice, "Double, we have company~" A nun emerged from the shadows, her eyes closed and her hands in prayer. "None of them are suitable candidates, Valentine." Double said, unmoving from her pose. Valentine pulled down her mask revealing a small scar on her lips as she added matter-of-factly, "Oh, did I mention that one of them has a spirit who seeks the Skull Heart?" Double smiled, then lowered her hands and opened her eyes, which were, frighteningly, entirely red in color, "Interesting, though we still need to make sure their worthy at all." She proceeded to do something even more disturbing; she opened her mouth impossibly wide and out of it jumped what could only be described as a grotesque mound of flesh and teeth.

Zach and Milo were reacting as anyone would to seeing this happen, though Kubat, unfazed, said, "Nuns that morph into hideous piles of flesh, now I've seen everything." Zach held in the urge to vomit and said, "Alright, I'm counting on the two of you to help me in this fight, understood?" Kubat caught a scalpel that was thrown at Zach out of the air and tossed it aside. "I'll take that as a yes."

Focusing back on Valentine and Double, Zach decided that Valentine would be an easier target and charged ahead. She calmly closed her eyes, held her arms up, and cupped her hands while remaining very still. The moment Zach hit her, her skin ripped apart to reveal her bones before those tore apart as well. Zach tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. She then suddenly appeared right beside where he attacked writing something down on a clipboard. "Did you miss me?" she said mockingly before she threw her arm out and a medical symbol appeared on top of Zach.

Valentine suddenly pulled out a body bag, tossed him inside of it, threw it up in the air, and dropped him to the ground. Picking himself up, Zach realized that, unless he had an opening, he was doomed fighting close up. Valentine pulled out a green syringe and threw it at him, prompting his scarf to knock it back into her. She suddenly had a sickly green color to her body and bubbles were rising up from the liquid. "Tch, lucky shot." She muttered as she ran up to him hacksaw in hand, ready to strike. Zach's scarf suddenly set itself on the ground, threw him over it, and propelled him feet first into Valentine's saw.

On the ground, Zach struggled to push the saw away from him; Valentine, on the other hand, was having no trouble pushing his legs down. Zach pulled his legs back, and then pushed forward, knocking Valentine off balance. He took the opportunity to punch her in the face and pull the hacksaw out of her hands. He then pointed the saw at her and said smirking, "You lose." Groaning, she accepted defeat and took her hacksaw back.

Zach was prepared to switch over to Double, but then he saw that Kubat and Milo were standing over a pile that he could only assume was Double. Milo looked battered and even Kubat was winded. Shrugging, he turned around and grabbed Valentine by the arms, "Okay, I completed your little 'test', now where's the Skull Heart?" Valentine pointed in the direction of the mausoleum and said, "Fine, the Skullgirl is down there waiting. Maybe you can finally kill her, but maybe not." All three boys walked down stairs knowing what awaited them might just spell their doom.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Confrontation

As the boys entered the stairway, Milo suddenly screamed. He apparently hadn't seen where he was going and bumped into a skull in an alcove. Zach grabbed him by the shoulders and said, "Will you calm down? They're already dead!" "That's what I'm worried about…" Milo muttered as they continued to walk down the skull decorated catacombs. As they got closer to the end, there was a strange blue light coming off from just out of their field of vision. When the steps had finally ended, the source of the blue glow had come into view: The Skullgirl.

The Skullgirl definitely lived up to her name, she was a girl, and there were quite a number of skulls around her. She seemed to be around twelve to thirteen years old and had gray hair with skulls adorning her hair to keep her two ponytails straight and tidy. She seemed to be wearing a maid outfit and had a blue light hanging off of her back. Keeping in with her maid motif, she had a vacuum cleaner made out of bones; however the terror factor of this was slightly diminished by its goofy looking eyes and teeth. Her most prominent features were her eyes; they were blood red, which in its own right was terrifying, but they also had the shape of half of a skull in both pupils.

She glared at all three of them, but the gaze penetrated Zach the most. Kubat broke the silence again, "Okay, I take it back, an evil tween maid armed with a demonic vacuum cleaner is officially what allows me to say that I've seen everything." Zach decided to make a better first impression, "I know you're not going to go quietly, but I need the Skull Heart to bring my mother back to from the dead." The girl spoke in a monotonous tone, "I can understand your plight, but have you not questioned who killed your loved one?" Zach glared daggers at her, "Why should I?" "Would your desire to set things right be sated if I told you it was Black Dahlia of the Medici Mafia?" He froze; he was so close to finding his mother's murderer just a few hours ago, and yet he managed miss her. She continued, "If you let me live, I'll make sure she and everyone involved receives their just desserts."

"Don't listen to her, Zach; she's trying to trick you!" It was Zach mother again, again for all to hear. "Hmmph, it saddens me that you still cannot see that you are being deceived." "What are you getting at?" Zach said through gritted teeth. "I will not ask you again, leave now or I will be forced to kill you." The Skullgirl closed her eyes, while Zach did the same. "Milo, Kubat, I'm grateful for your help, but I need you two to leave now." Zach sighed. "Zach…" Kubat was interrupted by Zach, "NOW." The two complied, leaving Zach alone with the Skullgirl.

"It looks like it's just you and me then…" "Marie." Zach heard several crashes of thunder, and could sense more and more of the blue glowing light even with his eyes closed. When he opened them, his gaze met with Marie's. They were no longer in the catacombs, but on a weird blue plane that looked like it were made of veins. Statues of the Divine Trinity floated about, crumbled and shattered. The full moon was visible from where they stood and skulls littered the ground below.

"Your blind trust towards your ally will be your undoing." Marie was surrounded by giant skulls, some human, and that of some sort of gigantic creatures. Zach charged forth and punched her body in-between where the skulls didn't protect her. "Out of my way." She said as a skull from the barrier glided out and hit Zach in the head. Zach persisted and continued his assault on Marie. "Die." Another skull, only this time the scarf hit it and shattered it. More punches, more skulls, more fragments. "Don't resist." Suddenly one of the giant skulls shot forward, followed by a trail of human skulls. Zach reacted fast enough to shield himself from the attack.

Getting a running start, Zach jumped and shot feet first into Marie. "Why continue to fight?" Marie said as her body lowered to the ground and several blue explosions knocked Zach backwards. Marie now had a vaguely humanoid outline made out of the veins on the ground behind her and the Skull Heart was visible beside her. Cautiously, he stuck a few more blows before observing what she would do next. "Make yourself useful." A skeleton wearing a suit and toting a machine gun appeared and shot several bullets, which Zach was smart enough to reflect back on Marie. "Rise from your grave!" Marie was starting to sound less composed, as if she was worried she was going to lose the battle. Several skeletal arms rose up from underneath Zach and tore at his legs, drawing blood.

"See how weak you are!" She held out her hand and a shadowy figure shot up and slammed into him. Getting up, he charged forward again, and completely missed as she moved behind him. He turned around and continued to punch as hard as he could. "Know your place!" It was the skeleton man again. Ducking under his shots, Zach rolled around him and punched Marie in the face. She started to groan in pain as the explosions around her covered her. Now she was nothing more than a collection of bones surrounding the Skull Heart.

"Serve your new master." The serene tone was back again. A naked skeleton stood between Zach and what remained of Marie's body. Jumping up, Zach grabbed a nearby floating statue and swung over it and kicked Marie. Skulls were flying everywhere, and Zach barely had any time to react to any of them. He proceeded to attack her in the air, and almost got hit by the shadow again. "You will not stop my wish!" A dozen more skulls and creature skulls shot past her and hit Zach. He could barely stand now, but he was so close, and he did not come this far to die now. Defying all logic, he grabbed Marie's skeletal hand and punched the Skull Heart. And punched. And punched, until Marie gave one last scream of pain and her body finally disappeared.

"Finally, I did it, mother!" Zach exclaimed in-between panting like a dog. He took a long look at his reward for the battle: The Skull Heart. "This is…" "… The Skull Heart." Zach's mother finished for him. "Well, what are you waiting for? Make your wish!" Zach said, barely containing his joy. "I wish for Zach's mother to be alive again!" The voice was different, it was no longer the sweet tone of Agatha Gallows, this was far more sinister. "What?" Zach's stopped beating for a couple of seconds. The Skull Heart spoke in response to the wish, "Your wish to bring someone back from the grave is pure, but your intentions and your own hear are not. You will become the Skullgirl." In a flash of light, the silhouette of Zach's mother appeared, and was suddenly twitching erratically, "Heh heh heh, you actually believed me? You really are a fool." These words were not coming from the scarf, but from Agatha's body. She continued to speak in her own voice, not Agatha's. "I have to thank you for the new body, it feels so… ironic." "W-who are you?!" Zach was panicking. "I am Stranghoul, and I am the new SKULLGIRL!" Stranghoul cackled as the power flowed through her new body's previously empty veins.

"What… have I done?!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Endgame

[Bang! Bang! Click!] "No, no, NOOOO- GACK" Black Dahlia's screams were cut short by a hand reaching around her neck. The sickening crack that followed echoed throughout the Tower. "Pathetic. I expected more from the infamous Medici Mafia." Stranghoul said in disgust as she dropped Black Dahlia's body. She turned to face Zach, who was glaring at her from the back of the elevator, "Come on Zach, aren't you going to at least commend me for killing your mother's murderer?" Zach said nothing, nor had he for the past week. He hadn't slept in days and his eyes now had black circles around them. He had kept his eyes open and watched her murder every single person in the Mafia, including Cerebella. She wasn't doing this out of revenge or as a favor to him, she did it to show her power.

He was deceived right from the beginning, all for the selfish desires of another. People were going to die because of him. He couldn't bear to sleep knowing he inadvertently caused all of this, and even now, he wondered what his friends would think of him. Pathetic. Traitor. Evil. As these thoughts rushed through his head, Stranghoul stepped up beside him and forcibly turned his head to face her own. "What's the matter, Zach? Feeling lonely?" she said, mocking him by doing an impression of his mother. He said nothing in reply.

"If you want, I can fix that." She said as she moved her fingers in a tip-toe motion across his shoulders before Zach knocked her arm off of them. "Hmph, if you're not going to say anything, then I'll decide for you!" Stranghoul exclaimed as she hoisted Zach up onto her back, surprising him, "We're going to pay a little visit to your 'friends', won't that be fun?" Zach froze and his eyes widened, but again he said nothing. She leapt out of the nearby window, not even bothering to shield herself from the glass, and landed in the street below. The shock of the fall startled Zach, but eliciting no real response from him.

The Maplecrest Park was the old meeting place for Zach and his friends. Now, it was where Filia went to look for a hiding spot from the Skullgirl. At least it would be, if she wasn't about to start a fight with Matthew. Matt was trying to convince Filia to leave the area while she remained skeptical about him. "Filia, you have to trust me, just this once, it's not safe here!" "Why should I trust you?" "BECAUSE I TRUST HIM." She looked to her left and saw Carol, "Carol?" "THE SKULLGIRL IS-" [Slam!] Matthew, Filia, and Carol turned to see Stranghoul landing several feet away from them. "Right here." Stranghoul said with a smirk.

Letting Zach down from her back, Stranghoul reveled in the shocked looks from his friends. He could tell exactly what they were thinking, and he didn't like it. Grinning widely, Stranghoul said, "While I've done my fair share of killing for the day, what's three more added to the body count?" Samson, having stayed quiet for most of the earlier argument, was having none of this and popped his face out, "If you're trying to kill her, you're going to have to go through me!" Stranghoul just laughed, "I'll take that as advice!" Matthew wasn't going to go down quietly, "Why are you doing this?!" Stranghoul grinned again,  
"If this is the power the Skullgirl has, what's the point in letting it go to waste? Now that that little introduction is out of the way, I'm going to- OOF!" She had been struck in the back of the head by something hard. The rock hit the ground and she turned to see Zach standing with an intense glare on his face. "Leave. My. Friends. Alone." These words were spoken with more anger than he had ever expressed before.

"Why you impudent little..." Stranghoul said as she prepared to grab Zach. Dodging under her legs, Zach punched her in the back. As she turned around, he leapt over her and kicked her, knocking her onto the ground. "Get up, I'm not done hurting you." he taunted. Rising up immediately in response, she tried to grab him by the neck, only for him to duck and uppercut her square in the jaw. "How?" She asked; she had unlimited power and yet she was getting her ass handed to her by the very same boy who had let her get those powers. "I've been studying you for the past week, watching your moves. You've been haphazardly throwing yourself in front of attacks because you know you can take it, but now your body is weak and you have so little experience using this power. And now I'm going to end this once and for-GKK!" Zach's explanation was cut short as he suddenly found Stranghoul's hands grasping his neck.

"I may not be able to control this power, but I do know one thing, and that's how to kill an annoying little brat!" As her grip tightened, Zach felt the air being cut off from his lungs. He had failed again. Why had it been so hard for him to succeed, even once? Stranghoul's smile stretched across her entire face as she choked the last living ounce of strength out of him.

Stranghoul felt a sharp object in her back. Howling in pain, she dropped Zach and saw Carol stabbing her with a massive spike from her wrist. Samson was helping too by tearing into the freshly made wound with his teeth. After Samson spit out the unappetizing piece of flesh, Filia and Carol then moved out of the way to make way for Matthew's fireball. The fireball hit right inside of the rip in Stranghoul's skin and hit the spot right where the Skull Heart was at. She screamed in agony as her tissue tore away, leaving behind the burnt husk of a skeleton, and that too turned to dust. All that was left was the Skull Heart.

They stared in awe of the Skull Heart, although Filia finally had her chance at a wish. "Now's your chance, kid! Make a wish!" Samson yelled. Without missing a beat, Filia said, "Skull Heart, I wish-" "NO!" she was cut off by Zach grabbing the Skull Heart by one hand. "The only thing the Skull Heart has given consistently is death and destruction! I'm ending this right now!" Zach smashed it with both hands, causing a explosion of blue energy. "You fool! All you've done is cause a minor setback! Your interference means nothing!" it screamed. "Goodbye, and good riddance." Zach said, making no effort to disguise his relief. The others stared in shock of what he had just done.

"Egrets, assemble!" cried the voice of an older woman. It was Lady Parasoul, the current ruler of the Kingdom and leader of the Black Egrets. "Hold on," she said, halting the advance of her men, "where's the Skullgirl?" Zach stepped up, "I destroyed her and the Skull Heart." She raised her eyebrow disbelievingly, "Pardon?" Zach spoke up louder, "My name is Zachary Oleander Gallows, and my father is Weapons Specialist Gideon Gallows. My mother, Agatha Gallows, was found murdered in my apartment home in the Winterbrook district." He paused to let Parasoul soak in the details, then continued, "After my initial grief, a spirit posing as my mother swayed me to find the Skull Heart. After defeating the now late Skullgirl, she revealed her true colors and used the power to become the new Skullgirl, which she then used to utterly decimate all of the Medici Mafia. She then tried attacking my friends here, at which point I stuck. After the initial blows were made, she nearly strangled me to death, but the timely intervention of my friends save my life and ended her's. When Filia attempted to wish upon it, I destroyed it before any damage could be done. And that is everything you need to know, Lady Parasoul." He took a bow.

"Zach, is that really you?" One of the Egrets said as he made his way to the front of the formation. He took a closer look at Zach. After confirming his suspicion, he took off his helmet revealing a man who looked suspiciously like an older version of Zach: his hair was cut identically, his eyes were the same color, and even his facial structure was similar. "Zach it is you!" It was Gideon Gallows in the flesh. "Dad? Dad!" Zach started to run towards his father, but he soon started to stagger and fell onto his knees. The last thing he saw before blacking out was his dad trying to catch him before he hit the ground.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Recovery

Zach groaned as light flooded his vision. Squinting, he found he was on his back. He tried to sit up to get a better view of his surroundings, but his muscles were too sore to move. Moving his head to the side, he saw that he was resting on a bed surrounded by a blue curtain. The curtain slid aside to reveal his father sitting in a chair, and for once, he wasn't wearing his uniform. He wore a tattered brown suit and tie with a pair of grey slacks in a similar condition. "Good, you're awake, I thought you might not make it after you collapsed on us." He said smiling.

"Where… am I?" Zach asked, his father's expression faded, "You're in the hospital. You passed out after the Egrets showed up, three days ago." Zach froze, or rather, his eyes widened, "What? W-well what about-" His father interrupted him, "Matthew and Carol explained their situation to Lady Parasoul. As soon as they were done, she called up Anti-Skullgirl Labs and discontinued all funding for their experiments. As for Filia, she was allowed to leave, but not before telling me how much she wanted for you to be okay." Zach was touched, "Filia said that?" His father nodded in reply.

"Oh, almost forgot." He reached over the other side of the chair and picked up a small package with a tag on it, "Apparently someone wanted to give this to you as soon as you woke up." He placed it on top of Zach's stomach. His muscles no longer as sore, he sat up and read the tag. All it said was "Thanks" with a heart underneath. Opening the package up, he stared in a mix of awe, confusion, and shock. It was Valentine's hacksaw. There was another note attached to the saw itself. "Sorry about attacking you. I wanted to take the Skullgirl on myself, but after you managed to beat me, I figured you might've stood a chance, so I backed off for a little while. When you not only managed to kill her, but the new Skullgirl as well, I decided what's done is done. That's why I'm officially retiring from Last Hope. Sincerely, Valentine."

As he processed this information, his dad looked over his shoulder to try to read the note. "Who's it from, an admirer, perhaps?" Gideon grinned as Zach's face flushed red. "W-what? N-no, it's just something from… a friend." Zach said truthfully, even though he'd known Valentine for less than an hour, she apparently trusted him enough to let him keep her hacksaw. Zach's flashed back to the night when everything went south. "Have there been any reports of the Medicis anywhere?" Gideon shook his head, "No, not a thing, from what we've gathered, everyone affiliated with the Mafia is dead." Zach breathed a sigh of relief knowing everyone involved in his mother's murder had gotten their comeuppance, except… "Although, there were some sightings of a wounded figure walking away from the tower with something in their hands." His father added as Zach's eyes widened again, could Cerebella still be alive? She was the only person he met at the Tower who seemed to regret her actions, even slightly. It couldn't be, he saw her murdered right in front of his eyes a few days ago. "Did they say if it was a man or a woman?" His dad gave him a quizzical look, "Uh, no, nothing conclusive. Why do you ask?" "It's nothing." Zach said as he settled back into a reclining position.

There was a long pause before either of them said anything. "Hard to believe she's really gone," Gideon sighed, "it seems like just yesterday I made the promise to marry her after I earned a position in the Egrets." As overzealous as he had been in attempting to revive his mother, Zach still couldn't get his mind over her death. It was somewhat comforting to know his father felt the same way. "I know this is probably still hard for you to get over this, but you need to remember, your mother wouldn't want you to be hung up like this." Zach couldn't help but agree, he should be focusing on the present, he should be... "Dad, I want to ask you something." Zach said, turning his head. Gideon stopped looking at the ground and turned his attention to his son.

"I want to know… I want to know if it'd be okay if I moved to Maplecrest."

Miss Victoria's classroom was just starting the first period of the day. The students were all talking amongst one another. Filia sighed as she fiddled with the pages in her book. Samson spoke up, "Still hung up about Zach, huh? Can't say I blame you, taking on not one, but two Skullgirls _and _winning probably'll do quite a toll on your body." "It's not just that, Samson. He was so determined to get his mother back, and then he ended up creating a new Skullgirl. I can't imagine how he feels right now." She said with great concern. The bell rung as Miss Victoria stepped in front of the class.

"Alright, settle down everyone!" The class stopped talking enough to hear her. "Allow me to introduce our new transfer student," She gestured for someone outside the room and Zach stepped in, surprising Filia and Samson. "Mr. Gallows." Zach was carrying a blue messenger bag and a small tin lunchbox. He was still wearing his old school uniform, with a few stitches in it. He grinned nervously as the entire class stared at him, "Pleased to meet you everyone, I'm Zach. I moved from the Winterbrook district. I like creamcicles, mice, and Oleander flowers." Miss Victoria gave him an odd look, "…Interesting, well then if you would, please take your seat and we shall begin the class."

Zach found an empty seat in the back row. He glanced at Samson, who eyed him suspiciously. Smirking, he went back to listening to the teacher. His second chance at happiness had finally come about. He only needed just a little more time, and he could finally work up the nerve to tell Filia his true feelings about her.

"Today," He thought, "is a brand new day!"


End file.
